I am a wanderer. I would say that I am a seeker, but sometimes I have no idea what I might be seeking, so I will stick with wanderer. This blog is more a public journal than anything. I don't claim to have life figured out. I simply stumble from mystery to mystery, and share my reflections along the way. Sometimes I feel burdened, and trudge. Sometimes? Well sometimes grace breaks through, and its time to dance.

Welcome

Primitive religion is not believed, it is danced!

Arthur Darby Nock

Earth's crammed with heaven,And every common bush afire with God;And only he who sees takes off his shoes;The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

Monday, June 27, 2016

Christianity is at its best when it is peculiar, marginalized, suffering, and it is at its worst when it is popular, credible, triumphal, and powerful.”― Shane Claiborne, Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals

I wondered if there were other restless people asking the question with me: What if Jesus meant the stuff he said?”― Shane Claiborne___________________________________________

I have not lost my faith in the Sacred I use Sacred rather than God because we have done such terrible things to GodCreating God in our own image, and losing sightOf this amazing reality that is loveAnd is in us

LovingReconcilingHealing

I have not lost my faithBut I sometimes struggle with “the faith” As it is taught, and lived outOr rather not lived out By, in particular, the American church

It seems as if the church has sold outPushing what sells,what is appealing,and offers us benefits (not sacrifice).

Jesus came to reveal Sacred nature to usAnd to show us what it looks like when the SacredReally comes alive in a personBecomes so powerful, so dominantThat the Sacred can no longer be separated from the “human”

What it looked like in Jesuswas love, compassionAcceptanceHealingAffirmation

It also looked like SacrificeGiving one’s self awayfor the sake of all thosethe world would rejectthe oppressed and the marginalized

Saturday, June 25, 2016

“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with
our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our
actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects.” ― Herman Melville
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Commune Common Commitment Communication Community Communion

as much as I am a loner I understand The importance of community

community often goes unnoticed although we have this vague sense that it is there even if we do not give it a name

I feel it every time I near the town in which I was born I rarely go there (it being in the middle of nowhere, deep behind the sagebrush curtain) but even now, almost 50 years after I left it to go to college there is a tug at my heart this is home these people are my people

I feel it at weddings and funerals at family celebrations and yes, I feel it at church as the little flock gathers, old, young farmers, professionals, believers, doubters to see if there is something in the idea of the Sacred

and find together, that “yes, yes there is!”

but I think I (we) feel it most profoundly when tragedy strikes when a child is killed, when a crazed extremist opens fire with a gun

it is then that we discover how profoundly we are connected

we gather in home we call on phones we share our pain on Facebook

we come together and we help each other we heal each other

there are many forces that would tear us apart money power ideology even religion

there are many forces that want to push us toward isolation or aggression

we cannot let them win
for when we have lost empathy when we stop reaching out with acts of compassion when we stop connecting
when we lose community and communion dies
so too dies our essential humanity

Further Reading

Creative Use of Diversity by Stephen Kliewer. A look at diversity in the church. Thoughts about the kinds of diversity in local congregations and its impact. Also thoughts about how to deal with diversity to maximize the positives and minimize the negatives . Published by the Alban Institute 1985

Healthcare and Spirituality by Stephen Kliewer and John Saultz. A look at spirituality and its place in the healing process. Originally designed as a primer for healthcare providers, it has also proved useful to pastors and laypeople. Published by Radcliffe Medical Press 2006.

Both can be found on Amazon.com

Another version of this blog, with photography from the author can be found on FaceBook

Look for "Dancing Faith"

Another great blog can be found at http://thefunstons.com/I encourage you to check it out!